October 28, 2022     —–     Chart #167

Hello Music Friends,

Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. Today we go with a true legend of country music, the Man in Black, Mr. Johnny Cash. The song is from 1963 and I am sure you already know it. “Ring of Fire”  was written by June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore and popularized by Johnny Cash in 1963. The single appears on Cash’s 1963 album, Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. The song was originally recorded by June’s sister, Anita Carter, on her Mercury Records album Folk Songs Old and New (1963) as “(Love’s) Ring of Fire”. “Ring of Fire” was ranked #4 on CMT’s 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music in 2003 and #87 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked the song #27 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.

The song was recorded on March 25, 1963, and became one of the biggest hits of Cash’s career, staying at number one on the country chart for seven weeks. It was certified Gold on January 21, 2010, by the RIAA and has also sold over 1.2 million digital downloads.

Although “Ring of Fire” sounds ominous, the term refers to falling in love – which is what June Carter was experiencing with Johnny Cash at the time. Mercury released Anita’s version as a single and it was a featured “pick hit” in Billboard magazine. After hearing Anita’s version, Cash claimed he had a dream where he heard the song accompanied by “Mexican horns”. Cash said, “[…] I’ll give you about five or six more months, and if you don’t hit with it, I’m gonna record it the way I feel it.” Cash noted that adding trumpets was a change to his basic sound.

When the song failed to become a major hit for Anita, Cash recorded it his own way, adding the mariachi-style horns from his dream. This sound was later used in the song “It Ain’t Me Babe“, which was recorded around the same time. Mother Maybelle and the Carter sisters are prominently featured in the Cash recording singing harmony. Cash tinkered with a few of the original phrases in Anita Carter’s version of the song. Cash’s daughter Rosanne Cash said, “The song is about the transformative power of love and that’s what it has always meant to me and that’s what it will always mean to the Cash children.“

Fun Fact:  In 2004, Merle Kilgore, who shared writing credit for the song with June Carter, proposed licensing the song for a hemorrhoid cream commercial. When performing the song live, Kilgore would often “mock dedicate” the song to the “makers of Preparation H”. However, June’s heirs were not of a like mind, and they refused to allow the song to be licensed for the ad.

Performed by The Highwaymen in 1990. I mean, come on.  Willie, Waylon, Kristofferson and The Man In Black:  https://youtu.be/tObz-q9i3P4 

This song reminds me of my good friend paul and all the campouts where we played guitar around the camp fire. Paul was our “Ring of Fire” man. Here’s to ya Paul.

Keep rockin my friends, Stan Bradshaw